"Bank stock purchase plan" == Use investor's money to pay short term debts owned to FED:
1) People are pulling money out of banks.
2) Banks have already invested their money so there is no money left for withdraw.
3) Banks are insolvent, so they ask for short term lending from FED.
4) If Banks declare BK, FED won't get their money back. So FED told FDIC I don't want to see any bankrupcy.
5) Can banks sell shares to public to raise money? No, Bank American is the largest, it shows it didn't work, BAC share dropped 20% ... and if it's a small bank forget about it, no one wants to own small regional banks.
6) If small investors don't want to buy new shares, government has to. With the share price is so low, this kind of money injection would result huge dilusion like the AIG, government now owns 80-90% stake.
7 What does the bank use the money for, pay off FED short term lending. There are still no money left for struggling companies which need cash.